America's Cup: Bad luck for New Zealand

SAN FRANCISCO -- Oracle Team USA "stared down the barrel of defeat," Friday, team tactician Ben Ainslie said, but lived to race another day with a solid fifth win, denying Emirates Team New Zealand the one victory it needs to take the America's Cup home to Auckland.

Earlier in the day, the Kiwis were on the cusp of winning the oldest trophy in international sports, leading Oracle by a mile, when the first attempt at Race 13 was abandoned because the winds were so light and the boats moving so slowly that the 40-minute time limit on the racecourse was exceeded.

"It's a very frustrating day to be honest," New Zealand skipper Dean Barker said immediately after the races. "We sailed a pretty solid first race. It's disappointing to be that close and so far away."

Oracle Team USA skipper Jimmy Spithill was caught with a broad smile on his face aboard the 72-foot catamaran when the abandonment was announced.

"What can you do?" Spithill asked. "Sometimes a couple of things go your way, and you've got to take it."

The Kiwis have won eight races so far and will have another chance to take the cup home at 1:15 p.m. Saturday, when Race 14 is scheduled, weather permitting. The Americans, penalized two races before the regatta began, have won five but need six more wins.

At a news conference after the races, the two skippers barely looked at each other, with Barker attributing the strained dynamic to a fierce rivalry between New Zealand and Australia, where Spithill grew up.

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Spithill agreed.

"The fact is we're in a battle now. Obviously we both want to kill each other, and that's sport," Spithill said. "I think we both have a lot of respect for each other, and it's one hell of a fight."

He believes his team, against the odds, could make a successful comeback.

"At the start of the regatta, it looked like everything was against us," Spithill said, especially since the team was docked two races and lost its wing trimmer in a cheating scandal involving smaller boats used in a preview regatta last year. The crew is now working well with a new trimmer and tactician, and the shore crew had made the boat much faster, especially upwind.

"We feel like the tide is turning, and it's starting to go our way," Spithill said.

Friday's weather conditions were fluky. Unlike a number of America's Cup races that have been postponed by winds too strong for safety, the winds were excruciatingly light, at under 10 knots (11 mph), during the first attempt at Race 13. One commentator called it a "drifting contest."

Oracle had a better start and led by 10 seconds after a slow march to the first mark. But after matching each other's jibes downwind a couple times, the Kiwis rolled over the Americans and expanded their lead to 500 meters with a 1:42 lead at the leeward mark. New Zealand increased its lead to 650 meters upwind and to nearly 1,500 after rounding Mark 3. But the clock was running out, and just as the Kiwis were nearing Mark 4 and ready to head for the finish line, the 40-minute limit expired.

"It's a shame, to be quite honest," Kiwi tactician Ray Davies said immediately after the race.

When asked if he's hoping for luck on his side, Davies responded, "Luck beats skill every time."

In the second attempt at Race 13, when winds increased to 12 knots (nearly 14 mph), New Zealand had the better start and was ahead at the first mark by three seconds.

But downwind, Oracle took the lead. At one point, the Americans, with the starboard right of way, charged toward the Kiwis, who failed to yield, forcing the Americans slightly off course and causing a crewman to lose his footing but remain on board. Oracle successfully protested, but the Kiwis were already behind and stayed that way at the leeward mark after another brush with Oracle that forced the Kiwis into a slow and awkward jibe.

Oracle widened its lead and crossed the finish line 1 minute, 24 seconds ahead.

iNSIDE: Full schedule, PAGE 5NOTE: Because of penalties, Oracle Team USA began the America's Cup with minus-2 points, meaning it would need to win 11 races to retain the America's Cup. New Zealand needs to win nine.